Tax Extenders, Administration and Reform Are On Deck; State Revenues Are Up

This week: The House will vote on tax extenders. In his June policy memo to House Republicans, Majority Leader Eric Cantor notes that there will be votes on three tax extender bills this week. The bills would make permanent (1) small business expensing of up to $500,000 in qualifying equipment per year, adjusted for inflation after 2014, (2) the built-in gains recognition period for S corporations, and (3) rules regarding basis adjustments to the stock of S corporations making charitable contributions of property. The House Ways and Means Committee passed these on April 30.

Next week: an IRS-TPC Research Conference. “Advancing Tax Administration,” a day-long conference on Thursday, June 19, will explore taxpayer compliance costs and tax administration, innovative enforcement strategies, tax uncertainty and corporate compliance, and taxpayer behavior. If you’re not an IRS employee, register here. If you are, register by email to the NHQ Office of Research. The IRS email link and the link to the event’s live webcast are here.

And later this summer: Hearings to advance comprehensive tax reform. The Senate Finance Committee plans to hold hearings this summer on education incentives, identity theft and privacy protection, and modernizing corporate taxation.

The Census Bureau’s annual survey of state government tax collections is out. It shows that revenues grew 6.1 percent between fiscal years 2012 and 2013. This marks the third consecutive year of revenue increase. In fiscal year 2013, states collected $846.2 billion. The two largest sources of revenue: Sales and gross receipts taxes at 46.4 percent, or $392.7 billion, and income taxes at 41.9 percent, or $354.7 billion. License, property, and other taxes make up the rest.

Idaho can’t yet reconcile its checkbook. Over 4,000 Idaho tax refund checks haven’t been cashed. The checks were written between July 2012 and June 2013, and expire on June 27. They total more than $1 million and will become unclaimed property if taxpayers don’t, as The Idaho Statesman reports, “get on it.”